The Lantern-Roofed Tombs in Thrace and Anatolia: Some Evidence ...

Obviously, the lantern-roofed tombs in Thrace and Anatolia provide a
welcome opportunity of studying the exchange of ideas and the various
interrelations in the tomb architecture between these parts of the ancient
world. Moreover, the monuments allow exploring the level of multilateral
interaction between different ethnic groups who inhabited both areas.
The limit of the present article does not allow studying in details all these
important topics. However, it is clear that while during the Late Classical
and Hellenistic Age the barrel-vaulted rectangular tombs became most
spread in Macedonia 24 and the beehive tholos tombs became widespread in
Thrace 25 , the lantern-roofed tombs appeared in Anatolia already in the 6th
century B.C. and were typical of this particular area. Therefore, the
appearance of the lantern roofing in Thrace during the end of the Late
Classical and Early Hellenistic Age was a result of Anatolian influence on
the Thracian funerary architecture. In this particular case, the process of
cultural interaction and adaptation of new architectural design happened
most probably in the region of Propontis inhabited by neighbouring Thracian
and Bithynian tribes, besides other ethnic groups. In fact, a number of
ancient records reveal well the close ethnic relationship between Thracians
and Bithynians, and give information on multifarious contacts between both
ethnic communities. 26 Undoubtedly, these circumstances resulted in
similarity of the funerary constructions and mortuary practices in Thrace and
Bithynia.
Just on the contrary, some scholars believe that the lantern roofing may
have been an original Thracian design, which was introduced to Anatolia by
the Galatians on their military routes in early 3rd century B.C. 27 However,
considering the fact that the lantern-roofed tombs appeared in Anatolia and
are much earlier than the Celtic settlement in the region, such hypothesis
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